How green is Arlington?

Friday

Jul 13, 2012 at 12:01 AMJul 13, 2012 at 1:16 PM

A Green Community since May 2010, Arlington was one of 19 municipalities in the state to receive a grant for energy efficiency upgrades two weeks ago, but town leaders were thinking green long before that.

Monica Jimenez/mjimenez@wickedlocal.com

A Green Community since May 2010, Arlington was one of 19 municipalities in the state to receive a grant for energy efficiency upgrades two weeks ago, but town leaders were thinking green long before that.

About a decade ago, Arlington was one of the first towns in the state to switch from incandescent bulbs to LEDs in traffic signals, according to Sustainable Arlington member and Solarize Arlington coordinator Ryan Katofsky. A few years later, the town replaced its mercury vapor streetlights with high-pressure sodium models.

The pace picked up with a $200,188 Green Communities grant in 2010, which was used to upgrade steam traps at Arlington High School, improve energy management at Hardy Elementary School and replace a third of the town’s high-pressure sodium streetlights with LEDs.

Arlington’s most recent Green Communities grant, totaling $250,000, will go toward better management of hot water use in six schools and heating, ventilation and air conditioning upgrades in school administration offices on the sixth floor of Arlington High School. Work is scheduled to begin later this summer and the changes could save the town up to $73,000 per year in energy costs, according to Town Manager Adam Chapdelaine.

On top of that, Town Meeting this spring approved funding to retrofit the rest of the town with LED streetlights. Work is expected to begin this fall or winter, with annual savings estimated at $96,000 for the new lights together with the first round of LEDs.

“I think first and foremost it’s very important to be as energy efficient as possible to spend taxpayer dollars as wisely as we can,” Chapdelaine said. “The more we can implement that provides a good payback for the upgrade, the more we can save taxpayers.”

Protecting the environment is another goal for town leaders and residents, according to Chapdelaine.

“From a sustainability and environment-conscious point of view, many people in Arlington have been supportive of using less energy for some time,” he said.

Smart energy

The town’s Highland fire station, renovated last year, was named a Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Silver Building for features ranging from heating and cooling systems to light fixtures to the cleaning products used within its walls.

Residents have done their part in past years by competing in an “energy smackdown” to see who could reduce their energy use the most, Chapdelaine said.

Meanwhile, Sagewell Thermal Imaging provided a picture for such residents this past year with the help of a state grant, taking thermal snapshots of Arlington homes indicating where they were losing heat. A link to these photos was nailed to residents’ doors.

The town continues to encourage energy saving through its Solarize Arlington program; its vendor, Solarflair, offers residents discounts on rooftop solar installations. The more residents participate, the bigger the discount.

Solarflair has begun assessing the homes of interested residents, of whom there are more than 300, Katofsky said.

“When you buy electricity, natural gas, heating oil, what you’re really buying is the services those things give you: heating, lighting, air conditioning. When you do that with efficient technology, you have less impact on your pocketbook and less impact on the environment, and you still receive the same — sometimes better — energy services for that money,” Katofsky said. “It’s the first thing you should be doing if you’re trying to save money and reduce pollution: Be smart about how you use energy.”

The Solarize program will do just that, said Vision 2020 Sustainable Arlington co-chairman Charlotte Milan.

“Putting solar panels on your house helps you feel part of the solution in a really tangible way. It’s something you can see,” Milan said. “This technology makes it easy to monitor your electrical use, and sometimes just seeing how your household uses electricity also changes your behavior.”

Mandate to recycle

Encouraging people to look at their behavior toward the environment is important, said Milan, who is also the town’s recycling coordinator and supports enforcement of Arlington’s recycling mandate, which begins in September. Requiring people to recycle may make them think twice before throwing something away, Milan has said.

Toward the same end, Sustainable Arlington members participate in Arlington’s annual EcoFest, Milan said, which this year educated people about food, where it comes from, how to grow it yourself, and how to compost what’s left.

EcoFest Committee members worked with Hardy School students to study rain gardens, or depressed areas whose vegetation treats stormwater that collects there. Students drew pictures of these plants, which Sustainable Arlington hopes to turn into educational signs for the rain garden at Spy Pond Park and gardens coming to Hardy School and Hurd Park by the Arlington Reservoir.

“So many groups do such great work. When we come together, it’s very exciting what can be done,” Milan said.

A green course for youngsters is available this summer through the Recreation Department: Kids Cooking Green, which teaches kids to make their own fresh pasta and smoothies, brings them to the Arlington Farmers Market and encourages them to plan parties using all local foods.

For its part, Arlington Community Education offers Recycled Art and a new program this year called Green Kids, led by Hardy teacher Emily Brambilla.

On Monday, children made “Lorax” puppets, after reading the environment-themed Dr. Seuss book, and decorated reusable canvas grocery bags with markers.

“I think it’s important to expose them to these things so teacher and parents won’t be constantly running after kids saying, ‘Turn the light off! Don’t throw that away!’” Brambilla said. “They can take responsibility. We try to teach good habits in other aspects of life; why not this?”

Meeting goals

As part of the Green Community commitment, a fuel-efficient hybrid Chevy is being used as a police department administration vehicle, and the town will buy four fuel-efficient Toyotas for municipal use within the next month.

The town will also hire a regional energy manager who will oversee Arlington and the town of Bedford, Chapdelaine said. With the manager’s help, during the next year the town will explore the possibility of installing solar panels on town building rooftops and retrofitting town buildings with more efficient electrical, heating and cooling systems, Chapdelaine said.

Green Communities have committed to reducing their energy use by 20 percent within five years.

“Given the projects we’ve already implemented, the new grant, implementation of the LED changeover and the town’s commitment to energy efficiency, we should be able meet that goal,” Chapdelaine said.

Original content available for non-commercial use under a Creative Commons license, except where noted.
The Arlington Advocate ~ 9 Meriam St., Lexington, Massachusetts 02420 ~ Privacy Policy ~ Terms Of Service